Strange Cases of the Paranormal Research Club
by castermerlin
Summary: The disappearance of a famed investigator and an endless storm had caused the city of Suruga to become one of the epicenters of the case that is leaving police stumped. A simple high school club decides to try and solve the case themselves but little did they know of the effect their decision would cause. [Rewrite, more details inside; Updates slow due to school/work]
1. Chapter 1

[Hello! This is the author here! I had actually deleted the original version of this story because after getting it reviewed by a close friend of mine, I had learned that I had made some fatal errors, both grammar-wise and to the overall plot of the story, so I am rewriting the first two chapters and then adjusting the next few chapters in order to work accordingly with these updates.

I hope that the quality of the fic has increased so read and please, if you can, give a possible review! I would love to know how you think! As I have to balance school and work, the updates to the fic might be slow and I deeply apologize for that but I do hope that you stay for the ride, regardless of that. Thank you very much!]

* * *

There was something almost comforting about the bar when it was late at night. Perhaps it was the fact that there was barely a person inside or the delicate yet charming ambiance of the dimly lit area; maybe it was for a more practical reason like the fact that the place is a short distance from the workplace and let him smoke.

The black-haired man sighed, releasing wisps of light grey smoke into the air, when the familiar chime echoed as the door opened.

"Hokuto."

"Hm?" The man identified as "Hokuto" looked up and turned to the one calling him. Almost immediately, he grimaced and turned away. "Listen Canary, I'm not here for your bullshit about how I should stop smoking."

"I've just entered this place and you're already getting snappy about that?" The man then clicked his tongue. "You think that every word I saw out of my mouth is some kind of personal attack. Have you ever considered lightening up?"

"Really not in the mood to lighten up." Hokuto growled. "That, and I don't want to hear how I'll have dried up lungs if I don't stop. You act like I have an addiction, god damn it!"

Frowning at the grumpier than normal Hokuto, Nathan sat down beside him at the bar counter. "Alright, you're more pissed off than normal so something has to be the matter. Is it because of the recent rainy season we've been going through?"

"Why don't you look and see?" Hokuto said, nodding towards the small TV hanging in front of them.

Curious, Nathan himself turned to the television. The screen itself showed the beginning of a news broadcast, the broadcaster an older man with hair slicked back and wearing a suit that showed off his prestige and professionalism.

 _Hello and welcome to everyone who is just joining in on our broadcast. Our top story concerns the disappearance of famous paranormal investigator Miyuki Nishimura. Miss Nishimura, aged 32, had disappeared shortly after she had recently had a live event related to an important announcement that she had stated on her blog._

 _While authorities are continuing their investigations in order to find the investigator, they are also keeping a close eye on anyone who attended that event, fearing that they too might be kidnapped._

"Ah, that case about the investigator." Nathan then looked at Hokuto. "You guys are still working on it?"

"Yep and we haven't found shit yet. No weapons in her hotel room, no signs of struggle, all of her stuff still in one place. It's like the woman disappeared without a trace." He blew out another cloud of smoke. "But god damn, have you heard the things that woman said during this event of hers? She claims to have found another world."

"Another world?" Nathan asked, his eyebrow raised. "You mean like a completely new world?"

"Completely, been hiding under our noses apparently." Hokuto then scoffed. "Though I don't buy it. If she went missing, it's probably more likely that she was kidnapped as a way to take her out of the public, a possible hit, but...another world? You have to be kidding me."

"I don't know Hokuto, that Miyuki woman does have merit and she hasn't been wrong yet. Being able to connect many things to the paranormal...it's almost fascinating to find out that there might be more paranormal forces in our world than we've imagined." Nathan then chuckled. "Though, I would rather leave all that discovering to my daughter."

Hokuto had made a rough growl as he put out his cigarette. "You and your daughter need to keep your head straight. It's a miracle Miharu manages to keep up with her."

"You're such a worrywart, Hokuto." The European man said with a grin as he looked towards the window. "Though...I think this place might experience a sudden change. After all, this is only the beginning of this story and the events have yet to unfold."

"Seriously, keep your head screwed on, dude. Enough of that weird speech you like to use."

The blonde then laughed, putting his friend on the back. "Don't get so down~. Come on, I'll drive you home after you've gotten your fill."

And so ended the conversations between fathers; now the only sounds that could be heard were the smooth jazz of the bar and the light pattering of rain outside.

* * *

 _Begin Case File #1: The Mysterious Disappearance of Miyuki Nishimura_

 _Day 1: A Brewing Investigation_

 _Wednesday_

 _Late Afternoon_

* * *

Nestled inside the busy city of Suruga, Holland International Academy prided itself as the best education one could give their children. With their motto of "We soar with pride and achieve the extraordinary", the student body was full of take-charge students and even the general atmosphere of the foreign school gave off the sense of regality and prestige.

As she finished the last bits of cleanup in the classroom, a lone girl wiped the sweat from her brow and then looked towards the window; her brow then furrowed as she ran a hand through her hair. Miharu Asashi, a third year of the academy, knew that this rain was unusual, even for the rainy season.

Her method of getting home aside, she knew that this amount was Susano'o's doing. He is the god of storms and they have been dealing with storm after storm so it only seems plausible. Unlike others in the city, Miharu could tell when it was just Mother Nature at work or if the divine had some part in it; after all, she was born into a family of shrine priests and priestesses who were entrusted to keep watch over the city and the local shrine.

"What good does he get making a storm out of this?" She said. "First he complains about me never visiting him enough, now he's making storms to directly prevent me. He just wants to complain about something, doesn't he?"

The classroom door then slid open with a loud bang, enough to startle the poor girl right out of her skin.

"MIHARUUUU!"

She knew that voice anywhere; she laid the broom against one of the walls and then placed her hands onto her hips as she turned to face the person at the doorway. "Noelle, what on earth are you doing? You know there's still clubs going on!"

Noelle Canary was another third year of the school and someone who also happened to be one of Miharu's closest friends. A transfer student from America, she was a take-charge type of girl who could be considered the living embodiment of the American stereotype.

She was good at sports, she had blonde hair and tan skin, she had a loud and unique voice, and she had a chest that earned her envious looks and googly eyes whenever she walked. All that she needed now was to be painted in red, white, and blue and pinning her on the side of a bomber plane.

"Oh come on Miharu, it's not like they can hear me." She said with a snort. "Barely any clubs do activities on this floor."

"You can just admit that you hate when the spotlight isn't on you." A tall male with dark brown hair said as he waltzed inside of the classroom. "Sheesh, you Americans can't live without making a scene."

Noelle then gritted her teeth and swung at the boy, who expertly dodged it. "Cram it Ryota! You're the one with a stick up your ass!"

Ryota Yukimura was Miharu's other close friend and also the complete opposite of Noelle. He didn't like to make unnecessary scenes and tended to do things at his own pace; he also has a habit of butting heads with Noelle just because of how different they were.

"I do not. You just tend to be too loud." He answered back. "Anyway, what's this "important" club business you need to drag me out of practice for?"

"Club business?" Miharu tilted her head.

"Yeah, club business!" Noelle said with a wide grin. "I know that this isn't an actual meeting but this is really important and I could find you guys so you can get an exclusive taste of the information I got!"

"You read information, dumbass." Ryota said with a snort.

"Anyway, I don't have time to deal with Ryota's mouth so come on, let's just go to the library so I can tell you guys!" Noelle said with a sense of urgency as she grabbed their wrists and tried to move forward but the two refused to budge.

"Noelle, what do you even want to talk about?" Miharu asked. "We can't just rush off without knowing."

"Ugh, fine! It's about the disappearance case! The one that's been all over the news!" Noelle answered as she puffed her cheeks out. "I'll tell more about it when we get the library, okay?"

The two knew that the longer they waited here, the more impatient Noelle would get so they decided to finally listen to her and walked to the school's library together.

[Location: Library]

The wooden doors of the school's library gave way and creaked open as the trio of students stepped inside. As they were walking, Noelle began telling them that she wanted to discuss the disappearance that had been all over the news for the past few days: the disappearance of Miyuki Nishimura.

Miyuki was a woman that everyone had their eyes on, fan and skeptic alike. She was a famous paranormal investigator known for doing the one thing that a "rational" person in this day and age would think is possible: Proving the existence of the supernatural.

Whenever she deducted that a case that was because of a paranormal force, it was something deemed irrational...up until Miyuki could produce results that could actually be replicated.

Whether it was a case no detective could solve, checking out an area that had been going through strange events, or finding out the cause of mysterious accidents, she could always somehow link a part of all of the case to the supernatural.

Miyuki was able to find ghost activity in a school in Hokkaido; she had photographs of bakanekos; she could even use her knowledge of the paranormal to help out cities work in sync with the youkai she found. It was a feat that earned her both praise and suspicion alike.

She has suddenly disappeared after hosting a live event in another city and once that had happened, the town has been going through constant storms.

"So Miyuki Nishimura went missing? I remember my mom was talking about it." Ryota then frowned. "Though why does this concern the club, other than the fact that she's the one who gave you inspiration?"

"Welll..." Noelle twiddled her fingers. "I was thinking that maybe we could be investigators ourselves and try and find Miyuki?"

"Noelle, we are not doing that." Both Miharu and Ryota said in unison.

"Come on guys! It's the best thing we could do! We could evolve from our small discoveries and actually do something big! It'll put us on the map, don't you guys want that?"

"Considering that we're a high school club and not a fancy organization, not really." Ryota said with a frown.

"Plus finding a missing person, especially someone as famous as Miyuki? Isn't that a job for the actual authorities?"

"Isn't your dad a cop?"

"That doesn't mean I suddenly know how to handle an investigation case!" Miharu then crossed her arms. "Plus how are we supposed to find them if the authorities haven't managed to find her yet?"

"Well, we do what Sherlock would do: Go back to the scene of the crime and look for any possible clues." Noelle then walked over to the computers and sat in one of the chairs. "Or in this case, read her blog posts. Even though we're still investigators, right?"

"Oh yeah, people did say that she made a blog post before she went to that live event." Ryota said, finger on his chin. "Maybe that would give us some clues."

"Ryo!" Miharu hissed. "I thought you didn't like attention! We should keep our noses out of this!"

"I know but she isn't going to stop unless we listen to her!"

"Aha!" Noelle's loud shout of triumph brought their gazes over to her. "Feast your eyes on this! While you guys were talking, I managed to find her latest blog post!"

Ryota and Miharu walked over to the computer and felt their jaws drop when their eyes read the title of the specific blog post. If their eyesight wasn't deceiving them, that blog post was talking about discovering a hidden world.

"She found a new world?" Ryota then narrowed his eyes. "That's too good to be true. I know she has a habit of finding paranormal causes but a whole new world? That's completely out of nowhere?"

"It wouldn't hurt it to read it, right?" Miharu asked, the sound of rain pouring down in the background. "Maybe we can find something."

Ryota looked at the two girls and sighed. "Fine. Canary, read it so we can, at least, see if she's bluffing or not."

"Sure, whatever you say." Noelle said as she clicked on the hotlink, taking her to the full page of the blog post itself. "Ahem. My dear investigators, I am writing about something that could completely change the way that humanity treats the supernatural. As we spend our days buried in technology and shedding off the ways of the past, we have ignored our youkai companions and failed to see what was right under our nose: The existence of a world full of youkai."

As the trio became absorbed into the article, they failed to realize that they were now being watched. In the darkness of the library, a pair of golden eyes stared at them from the corner, eyeing their every move as they kept reading.

 _I had originally taken on this project after I had come into contact with rumors about it. Lately, mental institutions have had cases of seemingly normal people who had disappeared, only for them to come back with claims that seem like they were taken straight from a children's book._

 _I went to Houraisan, I saw Togenkyo, A Devil of Scarlet, and much more...these were all claims made by people who disappeared and reappeared out of nowhere. While these claims were met with skepticism, I had a feeling that this situation was far too coincidental and decided to dig deeper._

 _After all, solving things related to the paranormal was my job and obviously, this had connections to it!_

The eyes narrowed as the shadow of the room seemed to seep more and more throughout the library, the lights in the area slowly growing dimmer.

 _I had spent weeks researching this, using any lead that I could find and while most of my leads led me to dead ends, I had soon found the evidence that was crucial to my goal. This world apparently had a "barrier" that allowed itself to completely block itself from our world; this means that the people who made these claims were taken into the "world" by this barrier...however all barriers have holes and this one is no different._

It was soon revealed that the pair of eyes was not just eyes but rather merely part of a thing. It was almost humanoid and black as tar which only made the bright gold of its eyes stand out more; its hands were large and sharp enough to pierce a human skull, their eyes beady and fixed on the teens as if they were prey.

As the shadowy figure crept close, it had tipped over a small table, causing the lamp on it to fall over and shatter into pieces. Hearing the sound, Ryota turned his eyes away from the article and looked towards the direction of the crash. "Did you guys hear that? And why did the room suddenly get so dark?"

"It might be from the storm." Noelle said. "I heard from my dad that lightning was going to happen tonight. Anyway, come on! We're almost at the end!"

"...I don't have a good feeling about this, Noelle." He said and turned back. "Finish this article and we're immediately leaving this place, got it?"

"Fine, fine." Her eyes then scanned the document. "Now where was I...Aha!"

 _Now that I was aware that this barrier had holes of its own, I soon wanted to learn about why these people were transported and how so. As I looked into the profiles of each of the missing people, I noticed that they were all people with lives so average and dull that the world won't necessarily miss them if they had suddenly vanished without a trace._

 _Could this mean that people would have to willingly make themselves disappear in order to see and interact with this barrier? And once a person entered this world, what were the risks and how could they survive? What about those who didn't survive?_

 _I had taken all of this into account and soon, with a little of elbow grease, I had finally done it: I had finally found the most foolproof method to enter this world without fail...and that is what I will reveal to you at the live event._

 _While I am excited to show this often to the public, this is information that should be handled carefully compared to my other cases. As much as I want to reveal the full details here, I will have to start off small...for who knows what could happen if I revealed too much too soon._

Once close enough, the figure raised one of its hands with the intent of taking all three of their heads in one strike. At that moment, feeling a disturbance, Miharu had slowly moved her gaze from the screen...

 **CRASH!**

There was a particularly nasty crash of lightning all of the sudden, just when Noelle had finished that sentence. It was loud and instant, like a gunshot that had made their ears pop, as the entire library was bathed in blue light.

The three students stayed wide-eyed and frozen, not because of the sudden lightning but because of the shadow of a ghastly monster that was suddenly cast in front of them; even Miharu with her head slightly tilted away managed to catch a glimpse of the beast. They didn't dare move, merely staring at the shadow with trembling fingers as they felt those golden eyes burning holes right into their soul. Soon, the shadowy form then broke apart and disappeared into nothingness.

As the lights inside flickered on and off, Ryota swallowed a shaky breath and then suddenly grabbed both Noelle and Miharu's hands. "Alright, that's it. We're leaving now."

"Bu-But wait! We need to shut off the computer!"

"Noelle, you saw the same thing that I did! We are leaving _now_! Someone else can worry about that!"

The three then hurried along, quickly sprinting out of the library and slamming the doors shut so whatever they saw wouldn't be able to follow their tracks. After seeing that thing and the storm intensified, they should take the hint and hurry on home.

And so, this was the conclusion of their final average day in the city of Suruga. As three members of the Paranormal Research Club hurried on home, this would be the last day that their lives would be unchanged and without danger.

Now that they had decided to dig into the mysterious case of Miyuki Nishimura, no one could be considered safe.


	2. Chapter 2

[Hello! Sorry for the wait, I've been pretty busy with school but new chapter! I feel kinda nervous because I worry that the quality isn't very good orz; As always, please read and review when you get the chance!]

* * *

Susanoo Shrine

Thursday

Early Evening

* * *

The rain continued to pour down as Miharu walked up the tall flight of stone stairs. A normally dull day would have ended as it usually did if she didn't suddenly receive a call from her mom, asking her to head over to the family shrine.

The rain was getting to the point that her uncle couldn't take care of the shrine without risking injury...though that just sounded like a covert way of getting the young to do the job of the old. She wasn't exactly upset,however. After what had happened yesterday and the case that they decided to stick their nose in, maybe Miharu needed to consult the gods for advice.

She walked under the red torii gate and came to a stop in front of the large shrine. The entire atmosphere could be described as peaceful, tranquil even. The shrubbery was cut and free of random debris, vibrant flowers were planted in their own special corners around the area, each statue and decorative item was perfectly spaced to form symmetry with each other, and even the shimenawa that hanged across the entrance wasn't worn down.

It was the calm within the chaotic storm of city life, a place where one could come in and instantly have their soul be cleansed. She took in a deep breath and exhaled, content. This was truly the most peaceful place to be.

"So you finally showed up, you damn brat!"

And there goes the peacefulness!

Miharu soured almost immediately once that voice reached her earbuds, that voice that was nothing but pure smug superiority. She gritted her teeth as she tightly clenched the rod of her umbrella, her anger already starting to boil inside of her.

" _Susanoo._ "

Out of all the things that could get under her skin, nothing made her more furious than the god of storms himself, Susanoo-no-Mikoto. One of Izanagi's children, Susanoo was a man who held himself in so much pride that it was practically narcissism plus he had a habit of treating others as if they were mere entertainment, something she had to go through firsthand when she was younger.

However as much as she wanted to tell him to fuck off somewhere else, she really had zero say in the matter. Other than that the fact that she is a teenager, Susanoo was still one of the gods of the shrine which that she had to listen to him.

"Hey, what's with that tone of yours?" He said, walking over to her. He practically towered over Miharu, being seven foot tall, and decided to take full advantage of that by poking her cheek. "In case you haven't realized, I ain't one of your parents. How come you don't give Kushinadahime this type of attitude?"

"Because she isn't an asshole like you." Miharu answered back, narrowing her eyes at him. "Also, what's up with _**you**_? It's been stormy for the past few days."

"Are you still holdin' all that shit I did to you when you were a kid against me? Aren't you older now, kid? You should learn to let things go~." He said with a disgustingly smug grin as he pulled up the hood of his jacket, revealing a smooth face with luscious black hair. "And last time I checked, I thought you guys wanted rain."

"Rain, not a monsoon with added lightning and thunder." She then scoffed. "And who are you to educate me about letting things go? How about you drop your little vendetta towards your sister as she kicked you out from Heaven?"

Susanoo crossed his arms. "I have gotten over it. My sister is just a pampered and spoiled child who takes things too seriously. I don't need to be up there in heaven with all those weaklings."

"You know you have the same attitude as her, right? I'm shocked that the shrine has collapsed due to a wild bull."

Miharu could only take one step forward before a lightning bolt launched out of the sky and struck the ground directly in front of her; the place that she would've placed her foot on was charred black. As her temperature rose, a vein throbbed as she turned to him with eyes of fury.

"You asshole!" She screamed. "You could've almost killed me!"

"Damn right I would've!" He said with a snort. "You keep running your mouth like a little smartass! Even if you're apart of this family, I would gladly put you in place an—"

 **SMACK!**

Susanoo was stopped in his tracks and he slowly crumbled to the ground, holding his head as a fresh lump began to swell.

"Susanoo dear, what did I tell you about messing around with that girl?"

The woman then opened up her fan, practically restraining herself from yelling at him. She was a divine beauty dressed up in a floral tomesode kimono and her hair decorated with the finest of hair accessories, only befitting for the wife of Susanoo. Kushinadahime sighed and then looked to Miharu and smiled.

"Thanks for visiting us today, Miharu~." She said. "Do you want to come inside for tea? It's no good standing in the rain for too long."

"Ah, sure but...Lady Kushinadahime?" Miharu then turned to completely face her. "Do you and Susanoo mind aiding me with something? It's kinda important."

[Location: Inside the Shrine]

Once Miharu had finished her daily duties and the three were inside, she had told both Susanoo and Kushinadahime everything that had happened yesterday. From the whole case involving Miyuki to the blog post describing how she found a new world and also of that strange shadow that she had saw when the lightning had struck.

Naturally, the two gods wanted this meeting to have the addition of tea and snacks.

"I see...so this Miyuki had found a new world, a world of youkai at that." Kushinadahime said. "That is truly interesting...I would've never thought that humanity would have the capability to find such places."

"Well, they need to stop." Susanoo said, folding his arms. "I mean look at what happened to this woman! She found out about it and then if she did find this place, they probably ran off with her! Youkai are unpredictable beasts most of the time. You don't know what might happen."

Miharu then sighed. "Even if she did get taken into this place, it's not like we can just go in and take her. The blog post only gave a general overview of what she found, she never went into detail about how she managed to get inside. We don't even know the name of this place!" She said. "And then there was the backgrounds of the people who had disappeared before but does that really matter?"

"Doesn't that sound like a detail, child?" He said. "Is this just your nature to overlook what you deem isn't important?"

"No, that would be you." Miharu said with a glare. "Plus I forgot about it, okay? After we read that, we kinda had to deal with a literal monster after us."

"A monster you could've easily dispelled? Or what, you have just suddenly forgot that your family handles monster extermination?"

"Why you—"

" _Ahem._ " Kushinadahime interrupted, bringing their argument to a halt before it could blossom into a full-blown conflict. "Less arguing, more talking. Miharu, describe the backgrounds of those people, if you would."

"Right. Miyuki said that they were all dull and boring, always static and never changed. It was almost as if they were placeholders in the world, leading lives so unnoticed that the world wouldn't care if they had disappeared without a trace."

"Hmph. It seems like the target is the increasingly dull, the ones with no lives to the point that their very existence is unimportant." Kushinadahime then frowned. "This Nishimura woman sounds like a big deal so for her to disappear that way is...unusual."

"Which means she got kidnapped by a youkai who didn't like her snooping." Susanoo rolled his eyes. "They're youkai, mere beasts who act on their instincts. They might have assumed this was a breach of territory...though if you guys wanted to get her back, it's pretty useless unless you have a proper entrance to this place."

"Was there anyone else who disappeared, Miharu?" Kushinadahime asked.

"No. She's the only missing so far but..." She then rested her chin on her hand, thinking back to that strange shadow she saw. "Do you think that weird shadow had something to do with her kidnapping?"

"I don't know why don't you ask it?" Susanoo curtly replied before being elbowed by his wife.

"That is a rather interesting connection, I wouldn't be surprised if it was true." Kushinadahime said before giving Miharu a solemn look. "However Miharu, I ask that you and your friends be careful with this. Youkai are an unpredictable type and if they managed to take this woman because she revealed a secret, there would have no problem doing the same to you, regardless if you know about exterminating them or not."

"Right. I'll keep a close watch then, Lady Kushinadahime." She then stood up. "I should try to head home if you believe I've done enough for today. Let me clean the table for you."

"Oh, you don't need to!" Kushinadahime said with a smile. "As long as I still have this body, I will put it to good use or else it'll become stiff. You should hurry on home before your parents worry."

"Thank you very much, Lady Kushinadahime!"

After she had bowed to the two gods, Miharu put on her shoes, grabbed her umbrella, and headed outside. Once they believed she was well out of hearing distance, Kushinadahime's smile fell a little and she looked to Susanoo with a look of disapproval. "You didn't tell about it."

Susanoo looked to her. "Tell her about what? I have nuthin' to tell her."

"Yes you do!" She said with a whine. "You could've told her that you were the one who made that huge lightning yesterday, on purpose I might add! After all, you saw the thing inside of the place, right?"

He made a gruff noise and ran a hand through his hair. "Okay so maybe I did but don't think it's because I like the brat! I was merely doing it because she's one of the humans who helps us and that's it."

"Riiiight...and I'm assuming all those other times was just because she's a caretaker, hm?"

"We are not treatin' that brat like our fucking daughter." He said through clenched teeth.

"I wasn't going to but we could since you sound pretty eager for it."

Another low growl was heard from Susanoo as his face became bright red in embarrassment, all while his beloved wife was laughing at him with her fan covering her mouth.

"You can't fool me, Susanoo dear~! I'll always be able to sense your feelings!"

"Geez, you can be troublesome sometimes..." He then opened the shrine door and leaned against the doorframe, watching the downpour. "Hina, do you feel that the winds are changing as if they're tryin' to tell us something? I don't dig into that kid's interests much but whatever she found, I fear that she'll bite the bullet because of it."

"The winds are changing, yes, but do you think it's a warning for danger...or perhaps the sign of great change? Either way, this is something that Miharu should handle herself. We can help her but she shouldn't overtake the spotlight."

"Right but that creature, when I had seen it, it gave a distinct energy...the energy of a snake." He clenched his fists until his knuckles were white. "No, that's impossible. I killed that thing long ago, it shouldn't even be alive let alone about to have a body. If that bastard managed to live through all that, I'll—"

"Susanoo." Kushinadahime put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't stress yourself about this. I'm sure Miharu will be able to handle this just fine."

"Hmph. Maybe." He put his hands in the pockets of his jacket. "She'll need all the help she can get."

* * *

Bedroom

Asahi Household

Night

* * *

Soon the sunset had given off its last rays and night had fallen over the city. For those who weren't enjoying the nightlife even with the storms going on, they were fast asleep in their beds for the upcoming day approaching them.

All but Miharu.

As much as she wanted to sleep, her body really wasn't letting her have the pleasure of sweet dreams, not while she was still aware of this entire situation. There was an entire world full of youkai right under humanity's noses without anyone knowing and apparently, that might have a connection to Miyuki's disappearance. There was also the situation with that weird shadow, whose identity still isn't known.

Her gods told her that her and her friends should be careful with dealing with youkai but should they really worry about that now? They have no clue how to get there in the first place.

If only they had gone to that live event...

Miharu then rubbed her eyes as she yawned. She shouldn't keep thinking about this while it was so late. She wasn't going to get anything done at all in the night while the others were asleep and she was not going to be any help for the next day if she's out of energy.

With one final yawn, she then laid down and finally fell asleep.

* * *

Unknown Area

?

* * *

The first thing she felt when she woke up was pain.

Miharu audibly winced when she felt her temple, a sharp throbbing emotion coming from it. "O-Ow...Since when did I hit my head?"

As she stood up, she soon realized that she wasn't in her bed anymore. She was standing on a stone ground that reminded her of the shrine back home and the entire area around her was surrounded by thick fog.

As she slowly turned in a full circle, Miharu found herself slack-jawed. Was this still just a dream? Because it certainly didn't feel like one. It almost felt like she was actually experiencing this, as if it was reality.

"Wh-Where am I?"

"You're in Gensokyo, Miharu."

Hearing the voice behind her, the girl immediately turned and her eyes widened at the sight of the woman. A woman with long orange-brown hair, a woman wearing a simple blazer and skirt of dark blue, a woman with red glasses on the bridge of her nose.

"I am Investigator Miyuki Nishimura. A pleasure to meet you."

Miyuki.

Miharu was staring at Miyuki Nishimura...and there was something about it that made hard for her to believe.

"That's impossible." Miharu said, not bothering to hide her doubt. "Miyuki is supposed to be missing! She wouldn't just show up in a dream! An-And how do you know my name?!"

"I picked it up from a friend." Miyuki said before narrowing her eyes. "And yes, I am aware of the situation back home. If you're willing to let me explain myself, I can probably provide a bit more clarity."

Miharu was hesitant at first, extremely doubtful that this was anything but perhaps a dream gone wrong, but finally huffed as she crossed her arms. "Fine."

"Great!" She grinned. "Allow me to explain, Miharu. That discovery that I had found was no joke: I had actually stumbled upon a new world, a world full of supernatural fantasies. In fact, you're in the same world now."

Wait.

Did she just say that she too was in the same world that she was talking about on her blog? That exact same world that they had no idea how to get in or how to get out?

"Eh? Ehhhhh?!" Miharu became flustered as she stumbled over her own feet and struggling to come up with full sentences in her panic. "This is the actual world?! Bu-But I don't know how I even got here! How can I get out? I need to leave!"

"Calm down." Miyuki said, sighing. "You entered because of your dreams."

Miharu was ready to tear her hair out in a panic before she turned to Miyuki like a deer in headlights. "I entered here...because of my dreams?"

"Yes. While actively being dragged here is the common route, this world seems to be connected to the dream world. If one is in a deep enough sleep, they can easily travel here and enter right back into reality once they wake up. It is also a route that I am certainly blocked off from."

"But why? Can't you just sleep here and somehow escape?"

"It doesn't work that way. Only my spirit would be in my home, not my body. It would be a troubling affair, to say the least." The investigator said with a frown. "I was working on my notes when I had suddenly found myself attacked. When I woke up, I was inside here and later realized I had no way out."

"Do you know who kidnapped you?" Miharu asked.

"Sadly, I do not know. I couldn't catch their face in time." She looked upward at the sky before sighing once more. "How troubling it is that I don't have enough time to speak with you. Miharu, I have a favor to ask of you and I expect you to follow it, alright?"

"A favor?"

"Yep." She then walked up to the girl and placed a chain of shiny keys in her hand. "These are the keys to my household. Do you mind being a dear and watching my house while I'm away? I fear someone might break into it."

"E-Eh?" Miharu said, blinking a few times. That was certainly not the favor she was expecting though perhaps all of those movies she's watched have skewed her way of thinking towards favors. "Alright then but if I entered this place through a dream like you said, wouldn't the keys be lost?"

"Nope. It's a strange observance but it seems that whatever you take here will still be with you when you wake up." Miyuki then turned on her heel and began to walk away. "I suppose this is where our time ends. Please be sure to watch the house like I said."

"Huh?" Miharu stumbled a bit before moving, running after Miyuki. "Wait! What about the whole kidnapping? We hardly know enough about it or even how to get in here normally to get you! Miyuki!"

However, when Miharu had reached to grab Miyuki's hand, she had gone _through_ the woman as if she was a ghost, passing through the fog and finding herself staring at the approaching stone ground at the bottom of the stairs.

As she descended downwards, she naturally panicked and quickly covered her eyes, awaiting the impact, an impact that would never come.


	3. Chapter 3

[Hello! I just wanted to apologize about the long wait. School has escalated out of nowhere so I didn't have much time to actually write any fanfiction whatsoever. This chapter is more of a transition towards Ch.4 which has more action. I'll be posting Chs.4 to 6 hopefully this or next week so please be prepared!]

* * *

Miharu's Bedroom

Friday

Morning

* * *

Miharu jolted awake from her dream with a loud scream, sitting up straight and breathless soon after. The unknown and foggy landscape of her dream was replaced by the familiar sights of light tan walls adorned with posters while her hands were gripping her lime green sheets rather tightly.

She took a few more breaths before she let go of the covers to rub her temples. Where to even begin with that dream...if she could still call it that. She fell asleep and somehow ended up in the world that Miyuki had discovered, a world called Gensokyo.

She still didn't understand how she managed to transport all the way to another world through her dreams however. Sure, people say that dreams can take you to other places but that was a figure of speech, not actually literally taking you and placing you smackdab in the middle of an unknown world!

As Miharu moved to get out of her bed, her hand moved over a lump in the bed and she tilted her head as her brow furrowed. Did she sleep with something last night?

Pulling the sheets up so she could uncover what was under them, she found a set of keys on a keyring, a very _familiar_ keyring.

" _Do you mind being a dear and watching my house while I'm away? I fear that someone might break into it."_

These were Miyuki's keys, the very same keys that she had given her when she had entered Gensokyo through her dream. Miharu could only look at them in utter shock, the realization that the world Miyuki found was actually real slowly settling in.

"Miharu!"

The bedroom door opened as her father, Hokuto, had opened the door with a worried expression. His black hair was disheveled and the white of his eyes were red and watery. He must have been up all night again. "I heard you scream. Are you alright?"

"Father." She then shook her head, giving him a nod after. "Ye-Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bad dream."

He gave her a sideways glance before sighing and rubbing the back of his neck. "If you say you're fine, I won't pry but call me if you need anything. Also, bring an umbrella when you're heading out for school. People are predicting that rain might come tonight."

She nodded at him and he closed the door, leaving her alone in her room once more. Her eyes moving back to the keys, she bit her lip. She had to tell the others about this.

* * *

Cosmo Palace

Early Afternoon

* * *

The Paranormal Research Club was more than a school club but a foundation for an everlasting bond...or that's what Noelle often says. Originally a school club meant for anything related to the spooky and occultic, it soon extended to mean the friend group that existed between the current members. This was mainly because hardly anyone besides them decides to join.

When they didn't meet up at school, the club would have improv meetings at Cosmo Palace, the local fast food restaurant in the downtown area of the city. The chime of the front door jingled as Miharu stepped inside and immediately spotted her friends sitting at one of the large booth tables.

"Ah, Miharu." A male with unkempt black hair said with a grin. "It's great that you're able to join us. I surely thought that you would've gone home because of your fatigue."

Katsu Takeda, Ryota's friend, and his biggest rival. They were both members of the kendo team and considered to be the best out of the entire team. If anyone decided to challenge him to a match, they better be prepared for him to keep it going as long as he possibly can.

"Look, It's not like I decided to be tired." Miharu said with a scowl. "Some things happened in the middle of the night and I couldn't sleep."

"Some things?~" Yuki Katsushika asked, eyebrow raised. Her dark purple hair was tied up in two low pigtails. "It seemed that the muses themselves have blessed you with artistic vision in the middle of the night! While your sleep was sacrificed for it, they clearly have a mission for solely for you." She then sighed dreamily. "If only those same maidens could bless me in my time of crisis. My days are only getting shorter and I've yet to create my magnum opus."

"What, so the other thousand pieces everyone has been selling weren't magnum opuses?" Ryota said with a frown. "Half of the town seems to be clamoring for them. Isn't that enough?"

"Alas, that is merely showing how flawed humanity is." She replied, shaking her head. "The common folk are charmed by the most dazzling pieces because they are not used to seeing rich beauty often, despite it being flawed. That is why I must create a piece that is desirable not by the flawed mindset of the common folk but by the gods themselves! Perhaps even the creatures within the new world that has been discovered."

"Speaking of, where is that broad anyway?" Ryota asked. "If Yuki goes on another speech about art, I'm going to lose my mind."

"It is quite troubling that Noelle is the one who is late when she calls us here." Katsu shook his head. "Tardiness is a sign of poor discipline, after all."

"We're here~!"

Noelle called out to the group in her typical cheerful tone as she ran up to them. "Sorry that I was late. Sis was havin' sword lessons so I couldn't just pick her up and drag her like I wanted."

"Fencing lessons, Noelle." Her sister, Hannah, said as she walked up to her with an annoyed look. "I believe this is the fifth time I've corrected you about this. Perhaps I need to carve it in you?"

Hannah Canary, Noelle's sister and the legendary "Ice Queen" of the school. She seemed to be the complete opposite of Noelle from their looks alone; while Noelle was the bright American stereotype, Hannah's platinum blonde hair and her prim and proper clothing gave her a doll-like appearance that was befitting for the House of Romanov.

Miharu still was surprised that she decided to join the club on her own will but perhaps it was just a thing within Noelle's family to get into the supernatural.

"Alright, alright! It's fencing!" Noelle said, panicked once she viewed her sister's cold expression. "No need to try and cut my skin for it, sis. Anyway, we're open for business so let's get to chatting!"

"Correction: The Paranormal Research Club will start its official club meeting." Katsu said as he crossed his arms. "Even though we're friends, let's try and keep this club professional for the sake of its own reputation."

"Aren't you enough of a killjoy with the kendo club?"

"Get on with it." Ryota cut in, annoyed. "This meeting is about you wanting to investigate Miyuki's disappearance so we should just get to that."

"Touchy." Noelle commented before coughing. "But he's right. The main topic of this meeting is Miyuki because well, she's disappeared and we're going to solve the case! I already told Ryota and Miharu but I thought that I should repeat myself."

"So, you want us to search for Miyuki." Katsu then frowned, obvious doubt in his eyes. "Do you even know where to start? If the police can hardly get a lead, I don't know how we would be able to."

"Well, the police didn't have a fuckin' monster try and attack them in the school's library. Me, Ryota, and Miharu saw that thing when we tried to look her up so that has to mean somethin' right? We just gotta lure it out...somehow."

"And how do you propose we do that? Let's assume that this monster is actually real and lurking about. Did it make any attempts to attack you guys? Did it warn you about prying into Miyuki's disappearance? Did it give you any sort of clue that maybe it doesn't want you around?"

"Err...No." Noelle then blew out an exasperated sigh. "Listen, Katsu. It's a huge fuckin' monster and ya don't see that often, even in a place like Suruga. That has to be something! If we capture it, maybe we could force it to tell us stuff."

"I'm only doing this so we don't end up arrested ourselves." Katsu responded. "Besides, I think we should focus less on the monster and more on what resulted in her disappearance. She proposed a new world at a live event, right? There has to be information that caused her to look into it in the first place."

As Miharu watched her two friends argue about how to handle the mission itself, the memory of Miyuki asking her to look into her house entered her head as she dug into her pockets. _That's it!_

"Wait!" Miharu cut in which caused all eyes in the group to look at her. "We're trying to see if that monster is real and to find out more about Miyuki's last mission, right? Why don't we go to Miyuki's house?"

"Miyuki's home?" Ryota rested his cheek against his fist. "The police might have already boarded up the place though. It'll be hard to go inside without destroying something."

"Actually..." Miharu took out Miyuki's keys, showing them to the group. "I have her keys right here. She gave them to me last night."

The group was silent, all sharing curious looks before Hannah decided to cut into the silence. "She...gave them to you? Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't she missing? And I don't think someone as famous as her has even come into contact with us."

"It's true that Miyuki is missing currently but she isn't as lost as people think." Miharu said before exhaling a deep breath. It was now or never. "I...I actually went inside of that world and saw Miyuki. It turns out that she became trapped inside of the world after she had posted about it on her blog, after the live event."

"What the?..." Katsu's eyes had widened in surprise. "You actually traveled inside of the world itself? The police have been trying to find any sort of way to contact Miyuki for weeks and found nothing."

She exhaled a deep breath as she twiddled her fingers. "I got inside through a dream. I don't know how but when I went to bed last night, I woke up inside of the world. Miyuki said one of the methods of getting there is inside of dreams and then she gave me her house keys. I tried to get out more but she disappeared before I could get another word out of her."

"Miharu wouldn't lie about things this huge." Ryota said. "It seems that this world is easier to access than assumed."

"A landscape, full of the paranormal, actually existing in our reality and not just the fabrication of man. Ah, it is something that wants to make my heart burst! A new window for my muses!" Yuki then grinned. "Furthermore, Miharu, if Miyuki has bequeathed you her keys then her message is clear: She wants you to look for something inside of her home!"

"Miyuki's house is pretty close by here, right? If we take the train now, we should be back before night." Ryota then turned his attention towards Noelle. "So, what's the plan, leader?"

Noelle was silent for a few moments before she jumped out of her seat. "Oh my god, Miharu! You're the best!" Her eyes were as bright as stars as she clenched her fists in determination. "That's the plan then! We're going to take the train right onward to Miyuki's house and solve the case! This is going to be great!"

"Quiet down!" Hannah hissed. She then clamped a hand over her sister's mouth and pulled her back down to her seat. "You're the one who wanted to do this behind the police's back so the last thing we should do is lure them to us!"

Noelle then looked away from her sister and nodded, burning up in embarrassment.

"So I guess we can bring this meeting to a close." Katsu said. "We should hurry so we can actually get back home before nightfall or before the police head there."

The others then gave each other a nod of confirmation and formally dismissed the meeting, cleaning up their mess and heading towards the train station. If they want to uncover as much as they wanted, they needed to get there fast.


End file.
